Caption:
An illustration from one of Al-Biruni's astronomical works, Kitab al-tafhim, explaining the different phases of the moon. Al-Biruni (973-1048) was a Persian-Khwarezmian Muslim scholar from the Khwarezm region. He is regarded as one of the greatest scholars of the medieval Islamic era and was well versed in physics, mathematics, astronomy, and natural sciences, and also distinguished himself as a historian, chronologist and linguist.